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ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS

prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem

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Nidah 67

Questions

1)

(a) A woman is forbidden to Tovel in the harbor, because she will bring up mud, creating a Chaztitzah between herself and the water. (See Tosfos ha'Rosh, who gives the reason because, since she is in view of the people, she will be afraid to be seen , and consequently, will not Tovel properly).

(b) 'Bardeyuni' (according to Rashi) means that she stirs up mud when she comes up from the water.

(c) Shmuel prepared mats for his daughters in the month of Tishri, in order to avoid the very Chatzitzah of which we just spoke. (According to the Tosfos ha'Rosh, they were not mats, but reed walls, to protect them from being seen).

(d) In Nisan, he needed to prepare Mikva'os for his daughters, and not just mats, because rivers cannot be used in Nisan. Why not?
Because, based on the Halachah that rain water is Kasher only when is actually gathered in a Mikveh, but not whilst it is flowing, whereas river water is Kasher to Tovel even whilst it flows, we now have to suspect, that maybe the amount of winter rain water which joins the rivers from the mountains, totals more than the natural spring water, in which case, one will be forbidden to Tovel in it.

2)
(a) A woman who Toveled after giving her son a cooked meal, is obligated to Tovel again. Why?
Because we are afraid that perhaps some of the food was stuck to her hands when she Toveled.

(b) Up to three days after she has let blood, a woman is permitted to Tovel with impunity, after that, she is forbidden to Tovel, because the wound that congeals after three days, forms a scab, which is a Chatzitzah.

(c) Mucus in the eyes is called dry (and is therefore Chotzeitz), as soon as it has begun to turn yellow.

(d) Eye-paint in the eye itself is Chotzeitz, outside the eye, is not. If however, her eyes tend to ('Porchos') blink continuously, then it is not a Chatzitzah, since the blinking moves the actual paint itself, preventing it from settling.
Alternatively, 'Porchos' means waters continuously, and the woman is Tehorah, because the tears prevent the eye-paint from congealing, and formomg a Chatzitzah.

3)
(a) A woman who Tovels must be careful, neither to open her eyes excessively (which creates a Chatzitzah above the eyes), nor to shut them excessively (which creates a Chatzitzah below them).

(b) 'A man shows his Nega to the Kohen, in the position of someone who is digging' means that, regarding the Dinim of Nega'im, we gauge a man's armpits in the position that he digs; and that consequently, Tzara'as in the area of a man's armpit is only considered Tzara'as, when it is on the part of the armpit which is visible when he digs.
The same will apply to the area in between his legs, which he shows to the Kohen in the Kohen in the position that he stands when he picks up olives from the ground - any part of the legs that is not visible when he does that, the Kohen does not contend with.

And as far as a woman goes, she shows the Kohen a Nega on the armpit in the stance that she takes when she weaves, and any part of the Nega which would not show then, the Kohen does not take into account; whereas by the Makom ha'Ervah, she shows it to him in the stance that takes when she bends down to feed her baby.

(c) Similarly, when it comes to Tevilah, the woman stands in the Mikveh as she would whilst going about her daily chores, not with her arms pressed to her body, or her legs pressed tightly together, nor does she need to stretch in order to open out the folds in her body.

67b---------------------------------------67b

Questions

4)

(a) Raba bar Rav Huna is not sure whether two hairs tied together is considered a Chatzitzah or not.

(b) According to Rebbi Yochanan, only one hair tied into a knot is a Chatzitzah, but not two.

(c) Min ha'Torah, only a majority of hairs individually tied together, are considered a Chatzitzah (Halachah le'moshe mi'Sinai), and that, only if one generally tends to be fussy. Chazal however, decreed there where there is a majority on which one does not tend to be fussy, or a minority on which one does, because each case is similar in one point, to that which is Halachah le'Moshe mi'Sinai.

(d) Chazal did not decree on a minority of hairs there where one is not generally fussy, because of a minority where one is, because that would be a Gezeirah li'Gezeirah.
(According to Rashi, the above difference is confined to the hair, but as far as a Chatzitzah on the flesh is concerned, even on a minority of flesh, and even there where one does not tend to be fussy, it is a Chatzitza d'Oraysa. See Tosfos ha'Rosh, d.h. 'Rubo', who learns our Sugya regarding the flesh).

5)
(a) According to Rav, a Nidah may Tovel by day from the eighth day and onwards.

(b) But Rebbi Yochanan maintains that Chazal forbade her to Tovel during the day at any time, because of her daughter, who might realize that she is going to Mikveh (during the day), but not be aware of the fact that it is the eighth day. Thinking it is the seventh, she will grow up with the misconception that a Nidah is always permitted to Tovel in the day.

(c) It is Rav who changed his mind.

6)
(a) The Amora'im permitted women to Tovel by day because of lions, thieves, the molestation of non-Jewish gate-keepers or the inherent danger of Toveling in deep caves in the dark.

(b) Indeed, why should it *not* be in order, to Tovel in the day of the seventh clean day - which all women have to contend with nowadays - since 'Mimah Nafshach', if she is a Zavah, a Zavah is anyway permitted to Tovel on her seventh clean day; and if she is a Nidah, then it is her *eighth* day, so why should she not Tovel in the day? In other words, the reason of 'S'rach Bitah' no longer applies.

(c) The reason, Rava explains, that they did not permit her to Tovel by day is because we contend with the opinion of Rebbi Shimon, who forbids a Zavah to Tovel on her seventh clean day, for fear that, after she has Toveled and been with her husband, she sees blood, breaking her seventh clean day and rendering her Bi'ah, a Bi'as Zavah retroactively.

7)
(a) Rav Huna permitted a woman to prepare (known as Chafifah) on Sunday for Tuesday (Monday night)'s Tevilah, because that is how long in advance every woman has to prepare, when her Tevilah-night falls due on Motzei Shabbos. He permitted Chafifah on Sunday for Tuesday night, because that is how long in advance she has to prepare, when her Tevilah-night falls due on a Motzei Yom-Tov which falls after Shabbos; and on Sunday for Wednesday night, because of the two days Rosh Hashanah which follow a Shabbos.

(b) Rav Chisda maintains that we cannot learn something which is possible to avoid, from something which is impossible. Consequently, the concession of performing the Chafifah the day before the Tevilah is confined to those occasions where it cannot be helped, such as when the Tevilah-night follows a Shabbos or a Yom-tov. But under normal circumstances, Rav Chisda will maintain, that a woman is obligated to Tovel the day before the Tevilah.

(c) Rav Yeimar agrees with Rav Chisda on principle; however, he maintains that, although we permit her to make Chafifah before Shabbos for after Shabbos, and before Shabbos for after Shabbos and one day Yom-Tov, he does not permit Tevilah on Friday for after the second day Rosh Hashanah, even though it cannot be helped. In that case, he says, one has no option but to make Chafifah on the night of the Tevilah, which is a better option than making it so long before the Tevilah.

(d) The Gemara rules like Yeimar.

8)
(a) The Gemara thought that it might be forbidden to make Chafifah on the same night as the Tevilah because, since she is in a hurry to Tovel, she might not do the Chafifah properly. Indeed, this Sugya appears to disagree with the previous one, which took for granted that it is categorically forbidden.

(b) It appears that Aba Mari, the Resh Gelusa and his wife had fallen out, and she was refusing to go to Mikveh; so Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak went to do the Mitzvah of making peace between husband and wife.

(c) Aba Mari's wife told Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak to come back tomorrow He understood from that, that she did not want to Tovel now because she had not yet made Chafifah, and it was already the night of Tevilah.

(d) To which Rav Nachman replied that since she had the implements need for Chafifah - pots to heat water, a bench to sit on and servants to prepare the hot water - she was obligated to proceed with the Chafifah and the Tevilah at once. This of course, resolves our original Sha'aleh: namely, that it is permitted to make Chafifah on the same night as the Tevilah.

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